The 007th minute NTTD
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Finished Scorpius yesterday. I honestly don’t know how many more of Gardner’s I can get through. It took me a good 2 months to finish this one.
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It’s largely downhill from there. There are a couple that have their moments but John really should have rode off into the sunset after Nobody Lives Forever.
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Just finished a Carte Blanche re-read. Wonderful book.
Also, The Growth of Biological Thought by Ernst Mayr: a history of biology from the ancients to the mid-twentieth century.
Don’t worry, we are with you on this quest
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It was my sixth Gardner and, honestly, the only one I’ve really enjoyed was his novelization of Licence to Kill. That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement as that isn’t his story.
A few years ago, well nearly 18 years ago now, I decided to re read the novels in order i.e from casino royale to colonel sun ,then through Gardner to Benson, including the film novelisations,by the time I had finished I devil may care to digest, and have read the novels as they are released since.
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I just finished doing exactly this over the last two years (minus the novelizations). It was a very fun thing I would never do again.
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Timeline by Michael Crichton. After 15 years, I’ve decided to revisit some of his classics.
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I’ve received
The Darkness volume 2 (Image comics)
Complete Spawn volume 2 (episode 50-100)
So returning to the great years of comics.
It is funny when you read the novelisations of the movies in with the publication timeline of the novels, as the authors go to great lengths to try and make them fit into the continuity of their novels.
The line in LTK about bond being married a long time ago is not present in the John Gardner novelisation,so it won’t contradict the fact he gets married in Scorpius!
The Gardner 007 had stopped using a Walther ppk, so it is referred to as “that brand of weapon” In the novel of Goldeneye.
Iin
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I haven’t read it myself but doesn’t Leiter have his false leg bitten off by the shark in LTK?
Oh yes! How could I forget that ! I am sorry! Yes bond says/thinks something along the lines of “lightning striking twice or history repeating” ( it was a long while ago when I read it!) When he finds Felix.
Yes,his stumps are just slightly nibbled by the shark!
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There’s an entire chapter called like “Lightning strikes twice” I think. What is more absurd about it, is Bond again finds a note that reads “He disagreed with something that ate him.” Honestly, Licence to Kill should have just existed outside of the Gardner continuity. Tonally, it doesn’t match the rest of his novels at all. It’s also a far better story, most likely because it wasn’t Gardner’s story to begin with.
Yes, John Gardner went to all the extremes to tie the movie novelisations in with the book continuity, yet in the last chapter of His final bond novel COLD/COLDFALL ( title depending on where you bought it) he is escorted to meet the new female M, tying it the books in with the post Goldeneye movie Bond universe
I’m starting the Gardner series again after a long hiatus with Licence Renewed. I’m about five chapters in and I like the way it’s structured. The whole book is pretty good, I think. If Gardner didn’t do his last seven or so books I believe his reputation would’ve been elevated. They’re not Fleming, but his first bunch (I suppose you could stretch that out to Win, Lose or Die/Licence To Kill) had some worthwhile concepts before the decline really set in.
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TheSpecte: Don’t give up until after you’ve read Win, Lose or Die. For me it’s the peak of Gardner’s run.
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I concur.
Reading Licence Renewed again has been enjoyable. Try and cut away the criticisms of Gardner’s era as a whole and see how it all began. He made enough changes to feel fresh while holding true to the spirit of the character. Restructuring the 00 Division, a new incarnation of Q, a new car and firearm, and a different blend of cigarettes. Gardner did make his own world, for better or worse, and I’d like Craig’s replacement to have the same spirit.
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King Solomon’s Mines by H Rider Haggard, narrated by Toby Stephens (as I have the audiobook).
Not sure what I was expecting but so far it’s mostly killing elephants and colonial racism. Truthfully I only sought this one out because I recently read Alan Moore’s League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen and realised that Quatermain was the only one for whom I hadn’t read the original source story.
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